title: Multidisciplinary Team Care Arrangements in the management of patients with chronic disease in Australian general practice.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore factors associated with the frequency of multidisciplinary Team Care Arrangements (TCAs) and the impact of TCAs on patient-assessed quality of care in Australian general practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected as part of a cluster randomised controlled trial conducted in 60 general practices in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria between July 2006 and June 2008. Multilevel logistic regression analysis evaluated factors associated with the frequency of TCAs recorded in the 12 months after baseline, and multilevel multivariable analysis examined the association between TCAs and patient-assessed quality of chronic illness care, adjusted for patient and practice characteristics.
  
  
  METHODS
  Frequency of TCAs; Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care (PACIC) scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 1752 patients with clinical audit data available at 12-month follow-up, 398 (22.7%) had a TCA put in place since baseline. Women, patients with two or more chronic conditions, and patients from metropolitan areas had an increased probability of having a TCA. There was an association between TCAs and practices with solo general practitioners and those with greater levels of teamwork involving non-GP staff for the control group but not the intervention group. Patients who had a TCA self-assessed their quality of care (measured by PACIC scores) to be higher than those who did not.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings were consistent with the purpose of TCAs--to provide multidisciplinary care for patients with longer-term complex conditions. Significant barriers to TCA use remain, especially in rural areas and for men, and these may be more challenging to overcome in larger practices.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia. m.f.harris@unsw.edu.au
authors.forename: Mark F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Upali W
authors.initials: UW
authors.lastname: Jayasinghe
authors.forename: Jane R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Taggart
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Christl
authors.forename: Judith G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Proudfoot
authors.forename: Patrick A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Crookes
authors.forename: Justin J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Beilby
authors.forename: Gawaine Powell
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Davies
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D058006:General Practice / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009517:New South Wales; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration*; D055815:Young Adult